Viet Cafe, Cabarete

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frank12

Gold
Sep 6, 2011
11,847
30
48
I justate at the Viet cafe in Cabarete--down the side street from Janet's supermarket and next to Velero Hotel. Man, did screw up putting this restaurant off so long. The food wasn't just good, it was fuc&^ing fantastic! No really, it was great. We ordered both types of spring rolls. They were good. But then we ordered the chicken Satay with spicy peanut butter sauce...that was out of this world delicious! (it was so good that i forgot to take a picture of it). After that we ordered number #25--Garden Mix Vegetable dish. I'm not a vegetarian, but my lord, the garlic sauce for the vegetables was orgasmic. Then we ordered the S-1 Lemon Grass Tom-Yum spicy soup w/shrimp. Again, out-of-this world fabulous...with fresh Lemon Grass, peppers, vegetables, shrimp. The taste was astoundingly good. I give this place a big thumbs up!

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P

pollogringo

Gold
Dec 26, 2011
8,071
0
0
Sounds like they lean more Thai than Vietnamese...not that there's anything wrong with that.

I did see Pho on the menu, and that's a good sign.

[video=youtube;PsSiA-JHm0U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsSiA-JHm0U[/video]
 
V

Vinyasa

Bronze
Dec 22, 2010
1,419
6
38
www.kieranbarry.com
Unless things have changed then portions are small...so small that i went home and ate some toast after my visit.

Not a good sign :(

Though admittedly the quality wasnt bad
 
waytogo

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
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Santiago DR
Why don't they have great restaurants like this in Santiago...........
Same ole, Same ole...........
Please don't mention Pez Dorado........Not that special.........

B in Santiago
 
W

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,969
113
waytogo said:
Why don't they have great restaurants like this in Santiago...........
Same ole, Same ole...........
Please don't mention Pez Dorado........Not that special.........

B in Santiago
Click to expand...

I wonder how many Dominicans would go to a Thai restaurant? Remember this is the island that spice forget. Yes a few locals may have an adventurous desire to find spicy food, but given the incredibly small number of such restaurants on the entire island, there would not be enough business outside of a tourist area. My wife did not like this same restaurant, for example. and would completely disagree with Frank12's review, I am sorry to say since I really like Thai food. My wife really likes Cabarete Curry , the Indian restaurant and Gordito's Mexican restaurant in the Ocean Dream plaza.
 
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dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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you'd be surprised. all real dominican machos i know here eat spicy food. something to do with showing off :)
 
W

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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dv8 said:
you'd be surprised. all real dominican machos i know here eat spicy food. something to do with showing off :)
Click to expand...

I would not only be surprised. I would be shocked and amazed. Where do they even find spicy food with which to show off?
 
waytogo

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
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Santiago DR
Koreono and his wife made me a big batch of homemade Kim Chi..............
Fermented cabbage, spicy, hot hot hot and delicious.............
Had a Korean friend in Chicago many years ago and ate this all the time..........
Gave a taste to 2 Dominican friends here and they couldn't spit it out fast enough........
Way to hot and spicy for them.............more for me........lol

B in Santiago
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
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occasional szechuan sauce meal in chinese restaurants mainly. plus tons of salsa picante. which is more sour than spicy in my opinion. i use a lot of jalapenos, chili flakes and cayene pepper in my dishes. they'd ask me to scoop more on their plate. i am pretty sure this is whose-dick-is-bigger kind of situation but i am happy to oblige and put more spices to see them suffer... ;)
 
K

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
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windeguy said:
I would not only be surprised. I would be shocked and amazed. Where do they even find spicy food with which to show off?
Click to expand...

Few of the managers type here got used to some spicy goodness, now they seem to ask our cook to prepare sopa de ramen con huevo. Of course they put eggs to lessen the spiciness of the soup, but they still enjoy them and crave them from time to time. They said they didn't know how good the spicy food was until they have tried it. Anybody wants to try spicy noodle soup try Shin Ramyun by NongShim, it's simple to make

1. Boil one bottle of Cascada water (500-550ml).
2. Once water is boiling put everything in and let it boil for 4 minute.
3. Put in egg and mix it for one minute.
4. Enjoy.

Egg neutralizer the spiciness so it won't be that spicy, but those that are adventurous can try without egg.
 
K

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
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waytogo said:
Koreono and his wife made me a big batch of homemade Kim Chi..............
Fermented cabbage, spicy, hot hot hot and delicious.............
Had a Korean friend in Chicago many years ago and ate this all the time..........
Gave a taste to 2 Dominican friends here and they couldn't spit it out fast enough........
Way to hot and spicy for them.............more for me........lol

B in Santiago
Click to expand...
I've been thinking about this the other day but it's not the acquired testes because those who like some spice and coleslaw will like it. It's acquired smell, anything fermented doesn't always come out great. We gave kim-chi to our Dominican neighbor one was regular and other was made from radish. they said regular kim chi was great but they just couldn't take radish one.
 
K

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
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36
Vinyasa said:
Unless things have changed then portions are small...so small that i went home and ate some toast after my visit.

Not a good sign :(

Though admittedly the quality wasnt bad
Click to expand...
Small portion is ok by me if the taste is great, I can always order another dish if I am not full. I'll try out this place since they have Pho. Something that I haven't had in awhile. I just love that soup with lots of hot peppers and spicy sauce mixed in.
 
K

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
0
36
windeguy said:
I wonder how many Dominicans would go to a Thai restaurant? Remember this is the island that spice forget. Yes a few locals may have an adventurous desire to find spicy food, but given the incredibly small number of such restaurants on the entire island, there would not be enough business outside of a tourist area. My wife did not like this same restaurant, for example. and would completely disagree with Frank12's review, I am sorry to say since I really like Thai food. My wife really likes Cabarete Curry , the Indian restaurant and Gordito's Mexican restaurant in the Ocean Dream plaza.
Click to expand...
This is why the Dominican food will never evolve beyond their blandness. Even before they try hot or spicy food, they believe Spicy food=poison. We had been feeding our watchie some Korean food and now he LOVE Korean foods but he will never touch any portion, if I say it's poco picante.
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
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rotten cabbage? like, sauerkraut or something? i'm all in. we eat lots if that "rotten" stuff in poland. and we make a soup from sauerkraut too. miesposo loves it. we gave it it one of our workers once. he ate in silence and then asked for another portion ;)
we also make soup from pickled cucumbers but they are not the same pickles you can buy here.
 
W

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
5,969
113
Koreano said:
This is why the Dominican food will never evolve beyond their blandness. Even before they try hot or spicy food, they believe Spicy food=poison. We had been feeding our watchie some Korean food and now he LOVE Korean foods but he will never touch any portion, if I say it's poco picante.
Click to expand...

And they have the wife's tale belief here that hot spicy food damages the stomach when in fact it is good for normal people. As for KimChee (sp?) I cannot get that particular food down, but I can eat and enjoy almost all other extremely hot and spicy foods that could never be found here unless you made it yourself from imported items.

As for the local hot sauces, they are more vinegar than spice.
 
K

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
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36
dv8 said:
rotten cabbage? like, sauerkraut or something? i'm all in. we eat lots if that "rotten" stuff in poland. and we make a soup from sauerkraut too. miesposo loves it. we gave it it one of our workers once. he ate in silence and then asked for another portion ;)
we also make soup from pickled cucumbers but they are not the same pickles you can buy here.
Click to expand...

windeguy said:
And they have the wife's tale belief here that hot spicy food damages the stomach when in fact it is good for normal people. As for KimChee (sp?) I cannot get that particular food down, but I can eat and enjoy almost all other extremely hot and spicy foods that could never be found here unless you made it yourself from imported items.

As for the local hot sauces, they are more vinegar than spice.
Click to expand...

Kim chi is in another level. The first bite will tell you everything, you will either love it and have it by dish full or hate it and throw them away. There are many soup that are made from kim chi. Kim-Chee-ji-gae or bu-dae-ji-gae (aka army soup) is the most famous ones. This I think some of you will like for its tangy spiciness and many meat dishes that Koreans has to offer. Then again most of Korean foods aren't date food as Americans put it since most Korean food has tons of garlic in them. If you ever visit NYC and in the mood for different food try many Korean restaurant in 32nd street area. If you haven't had any Korean food before and not a vegan, try Gal-bi (marinated short ribs). They aren't cheap but they will give you many many side dishes, and it will put your taste buds in different world.

Edit: I agree many hot sauces here are more vinegary then hot...
 
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